I am whoever I say I am.

The name is Mindy -- or Min-D as some friends like to say, or even MSkut (hybrid of my first and last name) -- and I'm a newspaper reporter just outside Charlotte, NC. I started this blog in April 2008 as a means of expanding my horizons and moving away from the "woe is me, here's what is happening in my life" blogging. Instead, I tried out the "hey, look how witty I can be" and the "this is what I have to say about 'insert topic here'" kind, and so far, it's worked pretty well. But there's much ground still to cover!

Yours truly...!!

Delve into the past.

Delve into the past.

Grace in Small Things: 38/365

Feb. 1, 2010
1. Didn't get to go to D.C. (stupid snow!), but had a FABULOUS weekend anyway.
2. Played in the snow - with my dog - for the first time in at least 10 years.
3. Went shopping yesterday!
4. Unburied my car from the inches of snow and ice this morning.
5. Leftover Olive Garden tonight. Yummmmm.

Feel free to Email me.

Since I was young, I’ve had an affinity for tattoos. I knew that one day, without a doubt, I would get one and at 22 years old, I finally did.

Less than two years later – a few months shy of my 24th birthday with two works of ink on my body – I’m contemplating a third (though it may not happen for quite some time). And with the concept in my head, I headed over to The Google in search of a pristine tattoo photo that would capture the ideas swirling in my mind. After all, if the image will be permanently placed on some portion of my body, you damn well better believe I’ll make certain that illustration accurately reflects the tattoo’s meaning.

Somehow, however, I stumbled upon the world’s most ridiculous tattoo portraits and felt this utter urge to share those images with you fine folks.

BMEink.com is a great venue for viewing the mistakes tattoos others have chosen to eternally etch onto their skin and even get a few ideas if you’re one of those people venturing into the parlor just wanting to get inked. And it was on their site that I found these gems. My commentary is a MUST. My sincerest laughter apologies if one of these happen to be you…

Al Bundy

Sure, “Married with Children” was quite funny, but I thought dudes primarily tuned in for Christina Applegate … not Ed O’Neill. I just wish I knew what was going through the mind of this individual when he/she decided to tattoo the face of “NO MAAM” to his/her arm (maybe it’s a leg? who knows!). Regardless, that is not a face I’d like to wake up to each morning. No thank you.

Lil Wayne

Now, I don’t know about you, but I have always found lyrics such as, “Shawty wanna thug / Bottles in the club / Shawty wanna hump / You know I like to touch ya lovely lady lumps” terribly inspirational. And apparently, so did the individual who chose this face only a mother could love as a permanent display of his feelings. Or maybe this dude just wants to be like Lil Wayne and “make it rain on them hoes.” Who knows.

I wish I could tell you that this was an odd find, but alas, it was not. Pee-wee Herman must be a rather popular tattoo choice as this image was just one of several on the single Web site I perused for crazy portraits. And while Pee-wee was most definitely a significant figure in most of our childhood days, you simply have to look past the character and remember you just put Paul Reubens, a man arrested for public masturbation, on your arm. That should be a fun story for the kiddos.

The Joker

Undoubtedly, this is masterfully done. The tattoo artist did a fabulous job, without question. But … really?! I can’t help but wonder if this man decided to tattoo half of his upper body with this face because of the Batman villain or Heath Ledger. I suppose that question could be asked of the dozens of individuals I found online with this tattoo. Yep, dozens. Nutty.

Catwoman

Yes, another Batman character, but this one is from the good ole’ Michael Keaton days. What on earth prompted someone to request Catwoman is way beyond my realm of thought – unless she’s the woman on the corner with a bazillion kittens who lives alone and quietly weeps about her life every night – but at least this person chose Michelle Pfeiffer over Halle Berry (don’t argue with me people, we all know old school Catwoman was 10x better than the newer version).

Dwight Schrute

By now, if you’re a regular reader of A MinD in MoTown – so all three of you – you realize my slight disdain love for The Office, thus I simply had to comment on this colorful tattoo. I can admit it’s very well done – kudos to the artist – but Dwight is, well, a moron. I may not be a fan of the show, yet I’ve watched enough to realize this tidbit and the reasoning behind anyone choosing this portrayal as a permanent bodily emblem is far outside any comprehension whatsoever.

I suppose these tattoos truly prove the options are endless when permanently etching an image onto your skin. And while these were all created with amazing accuracy and detail – no lie, almost all of them are rather beautiful – I still cannot help but ask “why?” for each. I just hope the proud owner’s of these works of art aren’t banging their heads against the wall, questioning their own motives 50 years from now when armpiece Rodney Dangerfield has even more wrinkles.

I’ve been thinking about getting a few more (only have the one so far)… but I’m not sure if I’m ready to be known as the chick with all the shark tattoos yet — especially living in Chicago, far, far away from sharks….

My cousin though, has an old world map she designed tattooed on her head. It’s pretty awesome… unfortunately she grew her hair back out, but tips of it stick out a bit.

On her head? That’s amazing. I’d love to see it, if you happen to have a photo.

::sigh:: Scranton used to be known for more than just the office. Now no matter where I go, whenever anyone finds out I’m from Scranton they always shout “The Office!”…we don’t act like that, well not all of us anyways. And what’s wrong with a tribal sun tattoo? At least there is meaning behind it :-p

Ya, and I know what that meaning is … even if you didn’t want to admit it. And trust me, I totally know how you feel about “The Office.”